POSITION 


OF  THE 


'(y 


SOUTHEKN  CHURCH 


) 


I.V  RKLATION  TO 


SLAVERY, 

AS  ILLUSTRATED  IV  A 


LETTER  OP  DR.  F.  A.  l^S  TO  REV.  ALBERT  BARNES. 

. I 


WITH  AX  IXTUODUCTIOX, 

CY 

.\  CONSTITTTIOXAL  PUK.'HVTEKI.V.V. 


; NFAV-YORK ; 

I • .TOH.V  A.  GUAY,  PRINTER,  IG  AND  18  .JACOB  STREET, 


FIRE-PROOF  Dtni.DIVGS. 
1857. 


P 0 S I T I 0 X 


OF  THK 


SOUTHERN  CHURCH 


IN^  RELATIOM  TO 


S L A E R Y , 

AS  IIXUSTRATRI)  IN  A 

LETTER  OF  DR.  P.  A.  ROSS  TO  REV.  ALBERT  BARNES. 


WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION, 

BY 


A CONSTITUTIONAL  PRESBYTERIAN. 


-- 'X' 

>j  Y I ' ' ‘ ^ ' ^ i 


--V 


NEW-YORK  : 

JOHN  A.  GRAY,  PRINTER,  16  AND  18  JACOB  STREET, 

FIRE-PROOF  BUILDINGS. 

1857. 


■ Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


https://arChiVe.Org/detailS/pOSitiOnOfSOUtheOOrOSS_O 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  recent  excellent  work  by  the  Rev.  Albert  Barnes, 
entitled  “The  Church  and  Slavery,”  has  called  forth  a 
series  of  letters  from  the  Rev.  F.  A.  Ross,  D.D.,  of  Ala- 
bama. They  were  originally  published  in  the  Philadel- 
phia Christian  Observer.  As  the  circulation  of  that  paper 
is  not  large  in  the  North,  it  has  been  thought  desirable 
that  public  attention  should  be  called  to  them  through 
some  other  channel.  The  author  is  one  of  the  most  emi- 
nent of  the  Southern  divines.  He  may  be  fitly  styled  a 
“ representative  man.”  He  is  not  only  able,  but  frank, 
fearless,  and  outspoken.  Where  others  would  be  silent, 
or  discourse  with  reserve,  as  of  things  we  are  not  yet 
“able  to  bear,”  he  boldly  utters  in  our  ears,  “tingle” 
though  they  may,  the  whole  matter.  It  is  good  to  listen 
to  such  a man.  You  learn  where  others  are,  and  where 
you  yourself  are,  or  at  least,  where  you  should  be.  It  is 
especially  felicitous  that  Dr.  Ross  has  spoken  at  the  pre- 
sent time.  The  true  position  of  the  South,  as  touching 
the  great,  growing,  overshadosving  system  of  American 
Slavery — the  deadly  nightshade  on  the  fair  soil  of  free- 
dom— is,  in  some  quarters,  held  in  doubt.  The  South, 
and  especially  the  Southern  Church,  it  has  been  said,  are 
misrepresented.  They  dislike  slavery  as  truly  as  we. 
They  would  gladly  be  rid  of  it.  Their  only  difficulty  re- 
spects the  means  of  such  a consummation.  How  errone- 
ous is  this  view,  as  matters  now  stand,  various  recent 
events  have  been  clearly  showing.  And  nothing  more 
clearly  than  the  letter  of  Dr.  Ross.  The  tract  of  our 
good  “angel  of  the  Church  in  Philadelphia,”  has  been 


4 


f)s  the  spear  of  Ithuriel,  to  existing  Southern  opinion, 
ft  has  started  up  in  full,  unmistakable  proportions.  Dr. 
Ross’s  Letters  have  been  republished  in  the  Presbyte- 
rian Witness,  at  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  and  have  received  from 
various  parts  of  the  South,  high  commendation.  Dr. 
Cleland  of  Kentucky,  for  example,  writes  thus  to  the 
Christian  Observer : 

“ 1 have  just  read  Dr.  Ross’s  third  Letter,  which,  with  what  he 
will  say  in  his  next,  will  be  so  full  and  complete,  as  respects  the 
scriptural  view  of  slavery,  as  entirely  to  supersede  my  feeble  arti- 
cle I sent  you  some  time  ago,  and  which  you  wisely  laid  aside  for 
the  present.  Dr.  R.  covers  the  whole  ground,  scripturally,  argu- 
mentatively, luminously,  and  powerfully.  I have  scarcely  ever 
met  with  a writer,  ancient  or  modern,  who,  in  regard  to  style, 
proof,  and  argument,  excels,  or  even  equals  Dr.  Ross.  I would 
have  a curiosity  to  see  from  the  other  side,  what  can  be  said  in 
reply.  "jVhen  I wrote  my  paper,  ‘ Let  there  be  light,’  I did  not 
know  it  was  coming  so  soon,  or  I would  not  have  troubled  you, 
or  myself,  with  my  poor  dim  taper,  except  so  far  as  it  gives  scrip- 
tural light,  which  I thought  had  been  wanting  long  ago.  But 
Ross’s  Letters  will  answer  every  purpose,  and  I hope  they  will  be 
published  in  book  form,  for  preservation  and  general  use.” 

The  Observer  has  other  letters  “ of  like  character.”  It 
seems  delighted  itself  with  Dr.  Ross’s  views.  His  let- 
ters, it  says,  “have  been  read  with  approval  by  thousands, 
comprising  ministers,  statesmen,  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  members  of  the  bar,  and  elders  of  the 
Church — men  of  the  profoundest  minds ; and  his  argu- 
ment can  not  be  set  aside  by  the  terrors  of  ‘ seven-fold 
condemnation.’  ” No  divine  of  eminence,  it  is  believed,  in 
the  Southern  part  of  the  Constitutional  Presbyterian  Church, 
will  pronoimce  the  views  of  Dr.  Ross  unsound. 

Such  being  the  state  of  things,  it  is  desirable  that  the 
whole  Church  should  know  it.  To  this  end.  Dr.  Ross’s 
fir.st  Letter  is  here  republished.  That  is  given,  because 


it  clearly  exhibits  his  position.  It  would  have  been  grati- 
fying to  include  the  whole,  but  that  would  have  unduly 
enlarged  the  present  pamphlet.  The  entire  series  will 
probably  be  given  to  the  public  in  some  permanent  form, 
and  it  may  be  safely  commended,  beforehand,  to  all  clear 
thinkers.  It  will  be  found  very  readable,  and  not  without 
some  notable  curiosities.  As,  for  example,  a reproduction 
of  the  old  exploded  theory,  that  there  is  “ no  such  thing” 
as  “an  ultimate  eternal  distinction,  in  the  nature  of  things, 
between  right  and  wrong” — that  they  are  the  result  purely 
of  a divine  arbitrament — “ that  a thing  is  right,  not  be- 
cause it  is  ever  so  per  se,  but  because  God  makes  it  right." 
For  aught  that  appears,  the  Doctor  would  say  with  that 
old  English  schoolman,  William  of  Ockham:  “If  God 
had  commanded  his  creatures  to  hate  himself,  the  hatred 
of  God  would  ever  be  the  duty  of  man.”  Some  of  the 
Southern  thinkers  hesitate  a little  about  this  particular 
view.  Their  organs  of  deglutition  are  not  quite  adequate 
to  it.  They  even  venture,  as  appears  from  a late  Presby- 
terian Witness,  to  quote  the  great  Edwards  to  the  con- 
trary. It  is  not  improbable,  however,  that  the  arbitrament 
theory  will  at  length  be  swallowed.  It  is  so  convenient 
a thing  to  the  pro-slavery  side,  to  get  rid  of  “ eternal  dis- 
tinctions,” and  make  right  aud  wrong  of  as  plastic  a nature 
as  possible. 

In  looking  over  the  following  letter,  several  things  will 
strike  every  reader.  First,  its  confirmation  of  all  that 
has  been  said  representing  a great  Southern  apostasy  on  the 
subject  of  slavery.  Let  its  views  and  reasonings  be  com- 
pared with  the  noble  testimony  of  1818,  illustrated  and 
confirmed  by  various  subsequent  action,  down  to  that  of 
the  last  Assembly.  Dr.  Ross  even  glories  in  the  progress 
that  has  been  n)ade,  and  treats  with  undisguised  contempt 
all  the  past  utterances  of  the  Church.  “ It  was  a m,istaken 


6 


public  sentiment^''  he  says — that  of  other  days.  “The 
Southern  slaveholder  is  now  satisfied  as  never  before.” 
The  principles  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  he  re- 
gards not,  with  Mr.  Choate,  as  “ glittering  generalities,” 
but  as  opaque  absurdities.  He  repudiates  them.  He 
declares  them  accursed  of  God.  He  puts  “ the  rela- 
tion of  master  and  slave  in  the  same  category  as  that 
of  husband  and  wife,  parent  and  child.”  It  is  as  truly 
sanctioned,  he  insists,  by  the  Bible.  He  makes  no  apology 
for  slavery,  but  boldly  defends  it  as  “ordained  of  God.” 
The  abounding  sophistries  of  the  argument  will,  to  a dis- 
cerning eye,  be  quite  apparent.  As,  for  example,  the 
treatment  of  first  truths,  those  great  vitalities  of  all  science, 
human  or  divine — those  fundamental  elements,  especially 
of  all  reasoning  about  the  internal  evidence  of  Revelation. 
So,  also,  the  confounding  of  slavery,  a institution, 
an  affair  of  “chattels,”  with  the  governmental  economy. 
But  we  need  not  enlarge  on  this  point.  The  present  de- 
sign is  information  rather  than  argument. 

The  important  question  will  suggest  itself,  what  is  now 
the  duty  of  our  Church  ? What  should  be  done  by  the 
coming  General  Assembly  ? A great  effort  is  being  made 
to  keep  it  quite  silent.  Nay,  to  bring  about,  indirectly, 
what  would  be  virtually  a retrograde,  pro-slavery  course. 
Witness  the  clamor,  on  the  flimsiest  of  grounds,  against 
the  recent  mild,  conservative,  righteous  action  of  the  Home 
Missionary  Society — action  perfectly  harmonious  in  its 
spirit  with  that  of  so  many  of  our  General  Assemblies. 
With  all  humility  and  deference — not  in  the  way  of  dicta- 
tion, but  as  embodying  the  known  views  of  many  in  our 
Church — the  few  following  suggestions  are  offered  : 

1.  Let  no  unconstitutional  course  be  taken.  The  most 
scrupulous  care  should  be  exercised  in  that  regard.  They 
who  plead  for  righteousness,  must  not  invade  rights.  Let 
UB  stand  in  this  respect  just  where  we  have  always  stood. 


2.  As  to  discipline,  there  is,  doubtless,  a possibility  of 
it;  as  the  “Majority  Report”  of  last  year  showed.  Whe- 
ther in  the  way  of  reference,  or  appeal,  or  complaint,  or 
of  general  review  and  control,  the  way  will  be  open  for  it, 
the  wisdom  of  the  Assembly  will  determine.  In  this  re- 
lation, Chapter  VII.,  Sec.  I.,  of  our  Book  of  Discipline  de- 
serves to  be  carefully  studied. 

3.  All  surely  will  say,  let  there  be  no  more  “ Delphic 
words.”  Let  there  be  no  action  that  can  be  misconstrued. 
The  reader  will  see  how  Dr.  Ross  interprets  the  unpre- 
cedented insertion  of  the  rejected  “ Minority  Report”  in 
last  year’s  Minutes.  An  interpretation  quite  accordant, 
it  will  be  remembered,  with  the  prediction  then  made. 
Let  no  such  mistake  be  repeated. 

4.  Does  not  the  manifest  change  in  Southern  sentiment 
— the  great  apostasy  so  plainly  indicated — call,  at  least, 
for  some  new  and  appropriate  testimomj  ? Something  that 
Dr.  Ross  can  hardly  term  a “ stultified  abstraction.”  It 
is  not  to  be  credited,  indeed,  that  the  apostasy  is  univer- 
sal. We  believe  better  things  of  the  South.  But  it  is  so 
general,  so  rampant,  so  overbearing,  so  boldly  aggressive, 
that  it  ought  to  be  promptly  met,  not  in  wrath,  but  de- 
cidedly, calmly,  and  firmly.  The  following  action  of  the 
Synod  of  Cincinnati,  touching  this  point,  is  worthy  of  the 
most  serious  consideration  : 

“Since  erroneous  impressions  exi.stin  some  minds  in  respect 
to  the  true  position  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  whereby  its 
efficiency  and  usefulness  threaten  to  be  impaired,  and  since  an 
open  apostasy  from  the  common  faith  of  the  Christian  Church 
on  the  subject  of  -slavery,  is  now  avowed  by  many  at  the  South, 
we  feel  that  the  Assembly  is  called  to  make  a new,  solemn,  and 
emphatic  declaration  and  testimony  adapted  to  this  new  state 
of  things. 

“In  particular,  it  is  openly  maintained  by  professed  followers 


R 


of  Christ,  that  slavery  as  a system  is  right,  and  to  be  defended 
‘ as  it  is that  it  involves  no  necessary  wrongs,  and  may  be 
properly  supported,  defended,  and  participated  in,  by  Christ- 
ian men ; and  this  too,  at  a time  when  the  most  determined 
efforts  are  making  to  extend  its  blight  over  vast  regions  now 
free ! We  do,  therefore,  earnestly  petition  the  Assembly  to 
adopt  the  following  declaration  and  testimony,  or  one  equiva- 
lent to  it,  to  wit : 

“ Whereas,  The  system  of  Slavery  existing  in  these  United 
States  is  essentially  at  variance  with  the  principles  and  spirit 
of  the  Gospel  of  Christ ; and 

“Whereas,  Strenuous  efforts  are  now  making  to  extend  and 
perpetuate  it,  notwithstanding  the  oppression,  immorality,  and 
cruelty,  and  the  numerous  evils,  spiritual  and  temporal,  which 
it  involves, 

^'■Resolved,  That  this  body  feel  constrained  to  renew  their 
SOLEMN  testimony  against  this  great  iniquity,  and  do  earnestly 
exhort  and  entreat  all  Christian  men  with  whom  they  can  have 
any  influence,  not  only  not  to  participate  in  it,  but  to  labor  to 
array  against  it  the  conscience  and  the  whole  moral  power  of  the 
Christian  Church." 

In  the  present  state  of  things,  our  Assembly  can  hardly 
say  less  than  this.  Some  of  our  Synods  have  expressed  a 
desire  for  still  more  emphatic  and  effective  action.  The 
Synods  of  Indiana,  Wabash,  and  Western  Eeserve  call 
for  discipline.  May  the  Assembly  receive  from  on  high, 
“ not  the  spirit  of  fear,  but  of  love,  and  of  power,  and 
of  a sound  mind.”  May  it  so  treat  this  important  sub- 
ject, that  it  shall  “have  no  fellowship  with  the  unfruitful 
works  of  darkness,  but  rather  reprove  them.”  So  shall 
we  have  the  smile  of  Him  who  hath  guided  and  helped  us 
as  a Church  hitherto,  and  who,  if  we  are  but  true  to  Him 
and  to  righteousness,  will  never  leave  nor  forsake  us. 

A Constitutional  Presbyterian. 


LETTER  OF  DR.  ROSS. 


Rev.  a.  Barxes: 

Dear  Sir:  You  have  recently  published  a tract — 
“ The  Church  and  Slavery.” 

“The  opinion  of  each  individual,”  you  remark, 
“ contributes  to  form  public  sentiment,  as  the  labor 
of  the  animalcule  in  the  ocean,  contributes  to  the 
coral  reefs  that  rise  above  the  -waves.” 

True,  sir,  and  beautifully  expressed.  But  while  in 
harmony  with  your  intimation,  I must  regard  you 
one  of  the  animalcules  rearing  the  coral  reef  of  public 
opinion,  I can  not  admit  your  disclaimer  of  “ special 
influence”  among  them  in  their  work.  Doubtless, 
sir,  you  have  “special  influence” — and  deserve  to 
have.  I make  no  apology  for  addressing  you.  I 
am  one  of  the  animalcules. 

I agree  and  I disagree  with  you.  I harmonize  in 
your  words — “ The  present  is,  eminently,  a time, 
when  the  -views  of  every  man  on  the  subject  of  slave- 
ry should  be  uttered  in  unambiguous  tones.”  I agree 
with  you  in  this  affirmation ; because  the  subject  has 
yet  to  be  fully  understood : Because,  when  under- 

stood, if  THE  Bible  does  v/A  sanction  the  system,  the 
Master  must  cease  to  be  the  master.  The  Slave 
must  cease  to  be  the  slave.  He  must  be  free,  axd 
equal  IX  POLITICAL  AXH  SOCIAL  LITE.  That  is 
your  “ unambiguous  torieT  Let  it  be  heard,  if  that  is 
the  word  of  God. 

But  if  THE  Bible  does  sanction  the  system,  then 
that  “ unambiguous  tone”  will  silence  abolitionists, 
1* 


10 


who  admit  the  Scriptures — it  will  satisfy  all  good 
men,  and  give  peace  to  the  country.  That  is  the 
“ tone'  I want  men  to  hear.  Li.sten  to  it  in  the  past 
and  present  speech  of  providence.  The  time  was 
when  you  liad  the  very  puhlic  sentiment  you  are  now 
trying  to  form.  From  Maine  to  Louisiana,  the 
American  mind  was  softly  yielding  to  the  impress  of 
emancipation,  in  some  hope,  however  vague  and 
imaginary.  Southern,  as  well  as  ISiorthern  men,  in 
the  Church  and  out  of  it,  not  having  sufficiently 
studied  the  word  of  God,  and  under  our  o-wn  and 
French  revolutionary  excitement,  looking  only  at 
the  evils  of  slavery,  wished  it  away  from  the  land. 
It  was  a mistaken  pvblic  sentiment.  Yet,  such  as  it 
was,  you  had  it,  and  it  was  doing  your  work.  It 
was  Quaker-like,  mild  and  affectionate.  It  did  not, 
however,  work  fast  enough  for  you.  You  thought 
that  the  negro,  with  his  superior  attributes  of  body 
and  mind,  and  higher  advantages  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  might  reach,  in  a day,  the  liberty  and 
equality  which  the  Anglo-American  had  attained 
after  the  struggle  of  his  ancestors  during  a thousand 
years ! You  got  up  the  agitation.  You  got  it  up 
in  the  Church  and  State.  You  got  it  up  over  the 
length  and  breadth  of  this  whole  land.  Let  me  show 
you  some  things  you  have  secured,  as  the  results  of 
your  work. 


FIRST  RESULT  OF  AGITATION. 

1.  The  most  consistent  abolitionists,  affirming  the 
sin  of  slavery,  on  the  maxim  of  created  equality  and 
unalienable  right,  after  torturing  the  Bible,  for  a 
while,  to  make  it  give  the  same  testimony,  felt  they 
could  get  nothing  from  the  book.  They  felt  that 
the  God  of  the  Bible  disregarded  the  thumb-screw, 
the  boot,  and  the  wheel ; that  He  would  not  speak 


n 


for  them,  but  against  them.  These  consistent  men 
have  now  turned  away  from  the  word,  in  despond- 
ency ; and  are  seeking,  somewhere,  an  abolition 
Bible,  an  abolition  Constitution  for  the  United  States, 
and  an  abolition  God. 

This  sir,  is  the  first  result  of  your  agitation.  The 
very  van  of  your  attack  repulsed,  and  driven  into 
infidelity. 


A SECOND  RESULT  OF  AGITATION. 

2.  Many  othere,  and  you  among  them,  are  trying 
in  exactly  the  same  way,  just  mentioned,  to  make  the 
Bible  speak  against  slaveholding.  You  get  nothing 
by  torturing  the  English  version.  People  under- 
stand English.  Nay,  you  get  little  bj'  applying  the 
rack  to  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  ; even  before  a tri- 
bunal of  men,  like  you,  who  proclaim  beforehand, 
that  Moses,  in  Hebrew,  and  Paul,  in  Greek,  must 
condemn  slavery,  because — “ it  is  a violation  of  the 
first  sentiments  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.'" 
You  find  it  difficult  to  jiersuade  men  that  Moses  and 
Paul  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Gliost,  to  sanction 
the  philosophy  of  Thomas  Jefferson  ! You  find  it 
hard  to  make  men  believe  that  Moses  saw  in  the 
mount,  and  Paul  had  vision  in  heaven,  that  this 
future  apostle  of  Liberty  was  inspired  by  Jesus 
Christ. 

Y’ou  torture  very  severely.  But  the  muscles  and 
bones  of  those  old  men  are  tough,  and  strong.  They 
won’t  yield  under  your  terrible  wrenchings.  Y'ou 
get  only  groans  and  mutterings.  Y ou  claim  these 
voices,  I know,  as  testimony  against  slavery.  But 
you  can  not  torture  in  secret,  as  in  olden  times. 
When  putting  the  question,  you  have  to  let  men  be 
present — who  tell  us,  that  Moses  and  Paul  won’t 
speak  for  you — that  they  are  silent,  like  Christ  be- 


12 


fore  Pilate’s  scourginj^  men  ; or,  in  groans  and  mut- 
terings — the  voices  of  their  sorrow,  and  the  tones  of 
their  indignation — they  rebuke  your  pre-judgment 
of  the  Almighty,  when  you  say — if  the  Bible  sanc- 
tions slavery — “ it  neither  ought  to  be,  nor  could  be 
received  by  mankind  as  a divine  revelation.” 

This,  sir,  is  the  second  result  you  have  gained  by 
your  agitation.  You  have  brought  a thousand 
Northern  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  with  yoiirself,  to 
the  verge  of  the  same  denial  of  the  word  of  God, 
which  they  have  made  who  are  only  a little  ahead 
of  you,  in  the  road  you  are  travelling. 


A THIKl)  KKSUI.T  OF  AGITATION. 

3.  Meanwhile,  many  of  your  most  pious  men, 
soundest  scholars,  and  sagacious  observer  of  provi- 
dence, have  been  led  to  study  the  Bible  more  faith- 
fully in  the  light  of  the  times.  And  they  are  read- 
ing it,  more  and  more,  in  harmony  with  the  views 
which  have  been  reaclied  by  the  highest  Southern 
minds,  to  wit:  That  the  relation  of  master  and  slave 
is  sanctioned  by  the  Bible ; that  it  is  a relation  be- 
longing to  the  same  category  as  those  of  husband 
and  wife,  parent  and  child,  master  and  apprentice, 
master  and  hireling  ; that  the  relations  of  husband 
and  wife,  parent  and  child,  were  ordained  in  Eden^ 
for  man,  as  man,  and  modifed  after  the  fall ; 
while  the  relation  of  slavery,  as  a system  of  labor,  is 
only  one  form  of  the  govermnent  ordained  of  God, 
over  fallen  and  degraded  man  ; that  the  evils  in  the 
system  are  the  same  evils  of  oppression  we  see  in  the 
relation  of  husband  and  wife,  and  all  other  forms  of 
government ; that  slavery,  as  a relation,  suited  to 
the  more  degraded,  or  the  more  ignorant  and  help- 
less types  of  a sunken  humanity,  is,  like  all  govern- 
ment, intended  as  the  proof  of  the  curse  of  such  de- 


13 


(jradatio7i,  and  at  the  same  time  to  elevate  and  hless  : 
that  the  relation  of  husband  and  wife,  being  for  man, 
as  man,  will  ever  be  over  him  • while  slavery  will  re- 
main so  long  as  God  sees  it  best,  as  a controlling 
power  over  the  ignorant,  the  more  degraded  and 
helpless  ; and  that,  when  He  sees  it  for  the  good  of 
the  country,  he  will  cause  it  to  pass  away,  if  the 
slave  can  be  elevated  to  liberty  and  equality,  politi- 
cal and  social,  with  his  master,  in  that  country  ; or 
out  of"  that  country,  if  such  elevation  cannot  be  given 
therein,  but  may  be  realized  in  some  other  land  ; all 
which  result,  must  be  left  to  the  unfoldings  of  the 
Divine  will,  in  harmony  with  the  Bible,  and  not  to 
a newly-discovered  dispensation.  These  facts  are 
vindicated  in  the  Bible  and  Providence.  In  the 
Old  Testament  they  stare  you  in  the  face  ; in  the 
family  of  Abraham  ; in  his  slaves,  bought  with  his 
money,  and  born  in  his  house ; in  Hagar,  running 
away,  under  her  mistress’s  hard  dealing  with  her, 
and  yet  sent  back,  as  a fugitive  slave,  by  the  angel ; 
in  the  law,  which  authorized  the  Hebrews  to  hold 
their  brethren  as  slaves,  for  a time ; in  which  parents 
might  sell  their  children  into  bondage  ; in  which  the 
heathen  were  given  to  the  Hebrews  as  their  slaves 
forever;  in  which  slaves  were  considered  so  much 
the  money  of  their  master,  that  the  master  who 
killed  one  by  an  unguarded  blow,  was,  under  cer- 
tain circumstances,  sufficiently  punished  in  his  slave’s 
death,  because  he  thereby  lost  his  money  ; in  which 
the  difference  between  man-stealing  and  slavehold- 
ing is,  by  law,  set  forth  ; in  which  the  runaway  from 
heathen  masters  may  not  be  restored,  because  God 
gave  him  the  benefits  of  an  adopted  Hebrew.  In 
the  Hew  Testament,  wherein  the  slavery  of  Greece 
and  Borne  was  recognized ; in  the  obligations  laid 
on  master  and  slave  ; in  the  close  connection  of  this 
obligation  with  the  duties  of  husband  and  wife, 
parent  and  child  ; in  the  obligation  to  retuni  the 


14 


fugitive  slave  to  his  master  ; and  in  the  condemna- 
tion of  every  abolition  principle^  ‘‘  as  destitute  of 
THE  TRUTH.”  (1  Tim.  6 : 1,  2,  3,  4,  5.) 

This  view  of  slavery  is  becoming  more  and  more, 
not  only  the  settled  decision  of  the  Southern,  but  of 
the  best  Northern  mind,  with  a movement  so  strong, 
that  you  have  been  startled  by  it,  to  write  the 
pamphlet  now  lying  before  me. 

This  is  the  third  result  you  have  secured,  to  make 
many  of  the  best  men  in  the  North  see  the  infidelity 
of  your  philosophy,  falsely  so-called,  on  the  subject 
of  slavery,  in  the  clearer  and  clearer  light  of  the 
Scriptures. 


ANOTHER  RESULT  OF  AGITATION. 

4.  The  Southern  slaveholder  is  now  satisfied,  as 
never  before,  that  the  relation  of  master  and  slave 
is  sanctioned  by  the  Bible ; and  he  feels,  as  never 
before,  the  obligations  of  the  word  of  God.  He, 
no  longer,  in  his  ignorance  of  the  Scripture,  and 
afraid  of  its  teachings,  will  seek  to  defend  his  com- 
mon-sense opinions  of  slavery  by  arguments  drawn 
from  “Types  of  Mankind,”  and  other  infidel  theo- 
ries ; but  he  will  look,  in  the  light  of  the  Bible,  on 
all  the  good  and  evil  in  the  system.  And  when  the 
North,  as  it  will,  shall  regard  him  holding  from  God 
this  high  power  for  great  good — when  the  North 
shall  no  more  curse,  but  bid  him  God  speed — then 
he  will  bless  himself  and  his  slave,  in  nobler  benevo- 
lence. With  no  false  ideas  of  created  equality  and 
unalienable  right,  but  with  the  Bible  in  his  heart 
and  hand,  he  will  do  justice  and  love  mercy,  in  higher 
and  higher  rule.  Eveiy  evil  will  be  removed,  and 
the  negro  will  be  elevated  to  the  highest  attainments 
he  can  make,  and  be  prepared  for  whatever  destiny 
God  intends.  This,  sir,  is  the  fourth  result  of  your 
agitation — to  make  the  Sonthern  master  know^  from 


15 


the  Bible,  his  riglit  to  be  a master,  and  his  duty  to 
his  slave. 

Tliese,/hwr  results  are  so  fnlly  before  yon,  that  I 
think  yon  must  see  and  feel  them.  Yon  have 
brought  out,  besides,  tremendous  political  conse- 
quences, giving  astonishing  growth  and  spread  to 
the  slave  ])Ower — on  these  I can  not  dwell.  Sir,  are 
yon  satisfied  with  these  consequences  of  the  agita- 
tion you  hav'e  gotten  up  ? I am.  I thank  God  that 
the  great  deep  of  the  American  mind  has  been  blown 
upon  by  the  wind  of  abolitionism.  I I’ejoice  that 
the  stagnant  water  of  that  American  mind  has  been 
so  greatly  purified.  I rejoice  that  the  infidelity  and 
the  semi-infidelity,  so  long  latent,  have  been  set  free. 
I rejoice  that  tlie  sober  sense,  iS^orth  and  South,  so 
strangely  asleep  and  silent,  has  risen  up  to  hear  the 
word  of  God,  and  to  speak  it  to  tlie  land.  I rejoice 
that  all  the  South  now  know  that  God  gives  right 
to  hold  slaves,  and  with  that  right,  obligations  tliey 
must  fulfill.  I rejoice  that  the  day  has  dawned,  in 
which  the  Yorth  and  South  will  think,  and  feel,  and 
act  together  on  the  subject  of  slavery.  I thank  God 
for  the  agitation.  May  he  forgive  the  folly  and 
wickedness  of  many  who  have  gotten  it  up.  May 
he  reveal  more  and  more,  that  surely  the  wrath  of 
man  shall  praise  him,  while  the  remainder  of  wrath 
he  will  restrain. 


r>ECI.ARATION  OF  INDEPENDF.NCE. 

I agree  with  you,  sir,  that  the  second  paragraph  ot 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  contains^’i'g  ajfirma- 
tio7is,  declared  to  be  self-evident  truths,  which,  if 
truths,  do  sustain  you,  and  all  abolitionists,  in  every 
thing  you  say,  as  to  the  right  of  the  negro  to  liberty 
— and  not  only  to  liberty — to  equality,  political  and 
social.  But  I disagree  with  you  as  to  their  truth. 


And  I say  that  not  one  of  said  affirmations  is  a self- 
evident  truth,  or  a truth  at  all.  On  the  contrary, 
that  each  one  is  contrary  to  the  Bible  ; that  each 
one  separately  is  denied  ; and  that  all  five,  collect- 
ively, are  denied  and  upset  by  the  Bible,  by  the 
natural  history  of  man,  and  by  Providence,  in  every 
age  of  the  world.  I say  this  now.  In  a subsequent 
communication  I will  prove  what  I affirm.  For  the 
present  I merely  add,  that  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence stands  in  no  need  of  these  false  affirma- 
tions. It  was,  and  is,  a beautiful  whole  without 
them.  It  was,  and  is,  without  these  imaginary 
maxims,  the  simple  statement  of  the  grievances  the 
colonies  had  borne  from  the  mother  country,  and 
their  right,  as  colonies^  when  thus  oppressed,  to  de- 
clare themselves  independent.  That  is  to  say,  the 
right  given  of  God  to  oppressed  children  to  seek 
protection  in  another  family,  or  to  set  up  for  them- 
selves, somewhat  before  twenty-one^  or  natural  ma- 
turity ; right  belonging  to  them  in  the  £ritish 
family  right  sanctioned  of  God  ; right  blessed  of 
God,  in  the  resistance  of  the  colonies,  as  colonies, 
not  as  individual  men,  to  the  attempt  of  the  mother 
country  to  consummate  her  tyranny.  But  God 
gives  no  sanction  to  the  affirmation  that  he  has 
created  all  men  equal — that  this  is  self-evident — and 
that  he  has  given  them  unalienahle  rights — that  he 
has  made  government  to  derive  its  power  solely  from 
their  consent — and  that  he  has  given  them  the  right 
to  change  that  government,  in  their  mere  pleasure. 
All  this — every  word  of  it — every  jot  and  tittle,  is 
the  liberty  and  equality  claimed  by  infidelity.  God 
has  cursed  it  seven  times  in  France  since  1793;  and 
he  will  curse  it  there  seventy  times  seven,  if  French- 
men prefer  to  be  pestled  so  often  in  Solomon’s  mor- 
tar. He  has  cursed  it  in  Prussia,  Austria,  Germany, 
Italy,  Spain.  He  will  curse  it  as  long  as  time, 
whether  it  is  affirmed  by  Jefferson.  Paine,  Robes- 


17 


pierre,  Ledru  Rollin,  Kossuth,  Greeley,  Garrison, 
or  Barnes. 

Sir,  that  paragraph  is  an  excrescence  on  the  tree 
of  oiir  liberty.  I pi^y  you  take  it  away.  "Worship 
it  if  you  will,  and  in  manner  imitate  the  Dj'uid.  He 
gave  reverence  to  the  mistletoe^  but  first  he  removed 
parasite  from  the  noble  tree.  Do  you  the  same. 
Cut  away  this  mistletoe^  with  golden  knife,  as  did 
the  Druid — enshrine  its  imaginary  divinity  in  grove 
or  cave — then  retire  there,  and  leave  our  oak  to 
stand  in  its  glory,  in  the  light  of  heaven.  Men  have 
been  afraid  to  say  all  this  for  years,  just  as  they 
have  been  timid  to  assert  that  God  has  placed  mas- 
ter and  slave  in  the  same  relation  as  husband  and 
wife.  Public  sentiment,  which  you  once  had  and 
have  lost,  suppressed  this  utterance,  as  the  other. 
But  now,  men  speak  out;  and  I,  for  one,  will  tell 
you  what  the  Bible  reveals  as  to  that  part  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  as  fearlessly  as  I tell 
you  what  it  says  of  the  system  of  slavery. 


HOW  MEN  ARE  MADE  INFIDELS. 

I agree  with  you  that  some  men  have  been,  are, 
and  will  be  made  infidels  by  hearing  that  God  has 
ordained  slavery  as  one  form  of  his  government  over 
depraved  mankind.  But  how  does  this  fact  prove 
that  the  Bible  does  not  sanction  slavery?  Why,  sir, 
you  have  been  all  your  life  teaching  that  some  men 
are  made  infidels  by  hearing  any  truth  of  the  Bible  ! 
— that  some  men  are  made  infidels  by  hearing  the 
Trinity — Depravity  — Atonement  — Divinity  of 
Christ — Resurrection — Eternal  punishment.  True  ; 
and  these  men  find  great  laws  of  their  nature — in- 
stinctive feelings'’’ — ^just  such  as  you  find  against 
slavery,  and  not  more  perverted  in  them  than  in 
you,  condemning  all  this  Bible.  And  they  hold 


18 


now,  with  your  sanction,  that  a book  affirming  such 
facts  can  not  he  from  God:’’ 

Sir,  some  men  are  made  infidels  by  hearing  the 
ten  commandments,  and  they  find  “ great  laws  of 
their  naturef  as  strong  in  them  as  yours  in  you 
against  slaveiy,  warring  against  every  one  of  these 
commandments.  And  they  declare  now,  with  your 
authority,  that  a book  imposing  such  restraints  upon 
human  nature,  “ can  not  he  from  God.”  Sir,  what 
is  it  makes  infidels?  You  have  been  wont  to  an- 
swer— ■“  They  will  not  have  God  to  mle  oner  them. 
They  will  not  have  the  Bible  to  control  the  great  laws 
of  their  natureP  Sir,  that  is  the  true  answer.  And 
you  know  that  the  great  instinct  of  liherty  is  only 
one  of  three  great  laws.,  needing  special  teaching  and 
government — that  is  to  say,  the  instinct  to  rule  ; the 
instinct  to  submit  to  he  ruled  / and  the  instinct  for 
liherty.  You  know,  too,  that  the  instinct  to  submit 
is  the  strongest ; the  instinct  to  mile  is  next,  and  that 
the  asjnration  for  liherty  is  the  weakest.  Hence  you 
know  the  overwhelming  majority  of  men  have  ever 
been  willing  to  be  slaves ; masters  have  been  next 
in  number,  while  the  few  have  struggled  for  free- 
dom. 

The  Bible,  then,  in  proclaiming  God’s  will  as  to 
these  three  great  impulses.,  will  be  rejected  by  men, 
exactly  as  they  have  yielded  forbidden  control  to 
the  one  or  the  other  of  them.  The  Bihle  will  make 
infidels  of  masters,  when  God  calls  to  them  to  rule 
right,  or  to  give  up  rule,  if  they  have  allowed  the 
instinct  of  power  to  make  them  hate  God’s  authority. 
Pharaoh  spoke  for  ail  infidel  rulers  when  he  said: 
“ Who  is  the  Lord  that  1 shoidd  obey  his  voice  ?” 

The  Bible  will  make  infidels  of  slaves,  when  God 
calls  to  them  to  aspire  to  be  fi’ee,  if  they  have  per- 
mitted the  instinct  of  submission  to  make  them  hate 
his  commands.  The  Israelites,  in  the  wilderness, 
revealed  ten  times,  in  their  murmuring,  in- 


19 


stinct  in  all  ages.  “ Would  to  God  we  had  died  in 
the  wilderness."  You  know  all  this,  and  you  con- 
demn these  infidels.  Good. 

But,  sir,  you  know,  equally  well,  that  the  Bible 
will  make  infidels  of  men  affirming  the  instinct  of 
liberty.,  when  God  calls  them  to  learn  of  him,  how 
much  liberty  he  gives,  and  how  he  gives  it,  and  when 
he  gives  it — if  they  have  so  yielded  to  this  law  of 
their  nature,  as  to  make  them  despise  the  word  of 
the  Lord.  Sir,  Korah,  Dathan,  and  Ahiram,  spoke 
out  jnst  what  the  liberty  and  equality  men  have  said 
in  all  time.  “ JY,  Moses.,  and  Aaron.,  tahe  too  much 
upon  you.,  seeing  all  the  congregation  are  holy,  every 
one  of  them — wherefore,  then,  lift  ye  up  yourselves 
above  the  congregation  f"  Yerily,  sir,  these  men 
were  intensely  e.xcited  by  “ the  great  law  of  our 
nature — the  great  instinct  of  freedom^  Yea,  that, 
they  told  God,  to  his  face,  they  had  looked  within,  and 
found  the  higher  laxo  of  liberty,  and  eguality — the 
eternal  x'ight,  in  their  intuitional  consciousness.  And 
that  they  would  not  submit  to  his  will,  in  the  eleva- 
tion of  Moses,  and  Aaron,  above  them. 

Yerily,  sir,  you,  in  the  spirit  of  Korah,  now  pro- 
claim, and  say  : “ Ye  masters,  and  ye  white  men, 
who  are  master,  Korth  and  South,  ye  take  too  much 
upon  you,  seeing  the  negro  is  created  your  equal, 
and  by  unalienable  right,  is  as  free  as  you,  and 
entitled  to  all  your  political  and  social  life.  Ye  take 
then  too  much  upon  you  in  excluding  him  from 
your  positions,  of  wealth,  and  honor — from  your 
halls  of  legislation,  and  from  your  palace  of  the  na- 
tion— and  from  your  splendid  couch — and  from  your 
fair  woman  with  long  hair,  on  that  couch,  and  in 
that  gilded  chariot — wherefore,  then,  lift  ye  up  your- 
selves above  the  negro  ?” 

Yerily,  sir,  Korah,  Dathan,  and  Ahiram,  said  all 
we  have  ever  lieard  from  abolition  platforms,  or 


20 


now  listen  to  from  you.  But  the  Lord  made  the 
earth  swallow  up  Korah,  Dathan,  and  Abiram  ! 

I agree  with  you,  then,  sir,  fully,  that  some  men 
have  been,  are,  and  will  be  made  infidels  by  hearing 
that  God,  in  the  Bible,  has  ordained  slavery.  But  I 
hold  this  to  be  no  argument  against  the  fact,  that 
the  Bible  does  so  teach,  because,  men  are  made  infi- 
dels by  any  other  doctrine  or  precept  they  hate  to 
believe. 

Sir,  no  man  has  said  all  this  better  than  you.  And 
I can  not  express  my  grief,  that  you,  in  the  principle 
now  avowed,  that  every  man  must  interpret  the 
Bible,  as  he  chooses  to  reason  and  feel — you  sanction 
all  the  infidelity  in  the  world,  obliterate  your 
“ Noted'  on  the  Bible,  and  deny  the  preaching  of 
your  whole  life — so  far,  as  God  may,  in  his  wrath, 
permit  you,  to  expunge,  or  recall,  the  words  of  the 
wisdom  of  your  better  day. 

TESTIMONIES  OF  GENERAL  ASSEMBLIES. 

I agree  with  you,  that  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
both  before  and  since  its  division,  has  testified,  after 
a fashion,  against  slavery.  But  some  of  its  action 
has  been  very  curious  testimony.  I know  not  how 
the  anti-slavery  resolutions  of  1818  were  gotten  up  ; 
nor  how  in  some  Assemblies  since.  I can  guess,  how- 
ever, from  what  I do  know,  as  to  how  such  resolutions 
passed  in  Butfalo  in  1853,  and  in  New- York  in  1856. 
I know  that  in  Bufi’alo  they  were  at  first  voted 
down  by  a large  majority.  Then,  they  were  recon- 
sidered, in  mere  courtesy  to  men,  who  said  they 
wanted  to  speak.  So  the  resolutions  were  passed, 
after  some  days,  in  which  the  screws  were  applied, 
and  turned,  in  part,  by  female  hands,  to  save  the 
chairman  of  the  committee  from  the  effects  of  the 
resolutions  being  finally  voted  down  ! 

I know  that  in  New-York,  the  decision  of  the 


‘>1 


Assembly,  to  spread  the  minority  report  on  the 
Minutes,  was  considered,  in  the  body  and  out  of  it, 
as  a Southern  victory.  For  it  revealed,  however 
glossed  over,  that  many  in  the  house  who  could  not 
vote,  directly,  for  the  minority  report,  did,  in  fact, 
prefer  it  to  the  other. 

I was  not  in  Detroit  in  18.50.  But  I think  it  was 
established  in  !New-Tork,  last  May,  that,  that  De- 
troit testimony  was  so  admirably  worded,  that  both 
Southern  and  Xorthern  men  might  vote  for  it  with 
clear  consciences  ! 

I need  not  pursue  the  investigation.  I admit, 
that  after  this  sort,  yorr  have  the  stultified  abstrac- 
tions of  the  X.  S.  Presbyterian  Church,  while  I have 
its  common-sense..  You  have  its  Delphic  words.  I 
have  its  actions.  You  have  the  traditions  of  the 
elders,  making  void  the  word  of  God.  I have  the 
providence  of  God  restraining  the  Church  from  de- 
stroying itself,  and  our  social  organization,  under 
folly,  fanaticism,  and  infidelity. 

You,  sir,  seem  to  acknowledge  this.  For,  while 
you  appear  pleased  with  the  testimony  of  the  X.  S. 
Presbyterian  Church,  such  as  it  is,  you  lament,  that 
the  Old  School  have  not  been  true  to  the  resolutions 
of  ’18 — that  in  that  branch  of  the  Church,  it  is  ques- 
tionable whether  those  resolutions  could  now  be 
adopted.  You  lament  the  silence  of  the  Episcopal, 
the  Southern  Methodist,  and  the  Baptist  denomina- 
tions— you  might  add  the  Cumberland  Presbyte- 
rian Church.  And  you  know  that  in  New-England, 
in  Xew-York,  and  in  the  Xorth-West,  many  testify 
against  vs  as  a pro-slavery  body.  You  lament,  that 
so  many  members  of  the  Church,  minister  of  the 
Gospel,  and  editors  of  religious  papers,  defend  the 
system.  You  lament,  that  so  large  a part  of  the  re- 
ligious literature  of  the  land,  though  having  its 
seat  Xorth,  and  sustained  chiefly  by  i^orthern  funds, 
shows  a perpetual  deference  to  the  slaveholder. 


■22 


Yon  lament,  that  after  fifty  years  nothing  has  been 
done  to  arrest  slavery.  Ton  lament,  and  ask — 
“ Why  should  this  be  so  ?”  In  saying  this,  you  ac- 
knowledge, that  while  you  have  been  laboring  to 
get,  and  have  reached  the  abstract  testimony  of  the 
Church,  all  diluted  as  it  is,  the  common-sense  fact 
has  been,  and  is,  more  and  more,  hronght  out,  in 
the  providence  of  God,  that  the  slave povjer  ho.s  heen^ 
and  is  gaining  ground  in  the  United  States.  In  one 
word,  you  have  contrived  to  get,  in  confused  utter- 
ance, the  voice  of  the  Sanhedrim,  while  Christ,  him- 
self, has  been  preaching  in  the  streets  of  onr  Jerusa- 
lem, the  true  meaning  of  slavery,  as  one  form  of  his 
government  over  fallen  men. 

These  then  are  some  of  the  things  I promised  to 
show,  as  the  results  of  your  agitation.  This  is  the 
“ tone'''  of  the  past  and  present  speech  of  providence 
on  the  subject  of  slavery.  You  seem  disturbed.  I 
feel  sure  things  are  going  on  well,  as  to  that  subject. 
Speak  on,  then,  “ in  unambiguous  tones.”  But,  sir, 
when  you  desire  to  go  from  words  to  actions,  when 
you  intimate,  that  the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  may  be  altered  to  permit  such  action 
— or,  that,  without  its  alteration,  the  Church  can  de- 
tach itself  from  slavery  by  its  existing  laws,  or  the 
modification  of  them — then,  I understand  you  to 
mean,  that  you  desire  to  deal,  in  fact,  with  slave- 
holders as  offenders.  Then,  sir,  you  mean  to  exscind 
the  South.  For,  it  is  absurd  to  imagine,  that  you 
suppose  the  South  will  submit  to  such  action.  You 
mean  then  to  exscind  the  South — or  to  exscind  your- 
self., and  others — or  to  compel  the  South  to  with- 
draio.  Your  tract  just  published,  is,  I suppose,  in- 
tended by  you,  to  prepare  the  next  General  Assem- 
bly for  such  movement  ? — What  then  ? Will  you 
make  your  “ American  Presbyterian,”  and  your 
Presbyterian  House  effect  that  great  change  in  the 
religious  literature  of  the  land,  whereby  the  subject 


ot  slaveholding  shall  be  approached,  precisely^  as 
you  deal  with  theft,  highway  robbers,  or  piracy  ?” 
Will  you,  then,  by^  act  of  Assembly,  Synod.  Pres- 
bytery, Session,  deny  your  j^ulpits,  and  communion 
bread  and  wine,  to  slaveholding  ministers,  elders, 
and  members  ? Will  you  then  tell  ISTew-England, 
and  especially  little  Rhoda — we  have  purified  our 
skirts  from  the  blood — forgive  us,  and  take  us  again 
to  your  love  ? What  then  ? Will  you  then,  ostra- 
cise the  South,  and  compel  the  abolition  of  slavery? 
Sir,  do  you  bid  us  fear  these  coming  events,  thus 
casting  their  shadow  before,  from  the  leaves  of  your 
book  \ 

Sir,  you  may  destroy  the  integrity  of  the  Jsew- 
School  Presbyterian  Church.  So  much  evil  you 
may  do,  that  you  will  hereby  only  add  immensely 
to  the  great  power  and  good  of  the  Old  School. 
And  you  will  make  disclosures  of  providence,  un- 
ravelling a consummation  of  things  very  different 
from  the  end  you  wish  to  accomplish  for  your  coun- 
try and  the  world.  I write,  as  one  of  the  animal- 
cules contributing  to  the  coral  reef  of  public  opin- 
ion. F.  A.  Ross. 


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